Tag Archives: 2000-2009

Shawn Spencer and Neal Caffrey first met in a museum in Chicago when they were both still just teenagers, striking up an unusual but lasting friendship. Nearly a decade later, Shawn finds himself in New York, pulled into the FBI’s White Collar division as a consultant in the search for an international art thief, forger, and con man–only to quickly discover that the man in question is his old friend, at which point, Shawn quickly removes himself from the case. Years later, Shawn and Gus are once again in New York, and Shawn stops by the White Collar office to say hi, finding himself unexpectedly face to face with none other than Neal Caffrey, now a CI for the FBI! Happy reunions are had, new friendships are made, and stories are told all around . . . but it appears that these friends aren’t the only old acquaintances in New York, and someone has ill intentions towards Shawn and Neal.

These two stories are ones I’ve wanted to see a crossover fic for basically since I first discovered the shows. And DTS does a great job melding these stories in Psychic in the City. I love the way the author builds up this backstory, using a series of unrelated encounters that inevitably bring them all together in the end–the history and the time factor add a nice touch to the story. The author does a good job with the characters as well, although in some ways I wish they had been a bit more strongly characterized, if that makes any sense at all. Shawn and Neal are a lot alike, but they’re also really different, and although I can see them bonding over their similarities, I can also see them exasperated/baffled by their differences. But I guess I also like the idea of them finding someone in each other that they can be themselves with, sans all the acting and the fronts they both put up generally. What I’m trying to say is that, although the characterizations weren’t exactly what I expected or would have done myself, I liked them and found them to be credible and in-character–and what more can I ask than that? The plot was also interesting and entirely plausible for these guys, but warnings for a major cliffhanger ending. There’s a sequel, though, which will probably be reviewed here shortly. Psychic in the City is definitelya recommended story for those who enjoy these two shows.

Warning: Spoilers through season 5/Mature Audience (officially rated T, but I’m pretty sure M would be more accurate)

Sam and Dean get hit with a spell that sticks them in each other’s body, but it’s only supposed to last a couple of days, so they figure they can just ride it out. What’s the worst that could happen? At first, they’re a bit awkward getting used to the feel of a different body–and the weirdness of seeing their own face looking back at them with their brother’s facial expressions. But as time passes, Dean becomes more and more aware that something is off with Sam’s body. There’s a hunger, a craving, that he just can’t place, and the big, unhealthy meals that he loves just seem to make him feel worse. . . .

Thicker Than Water was a very enjoyable and thought-provoking SPN fanfic. The premise is just fabulous–both the body-swap itself, and the use of that to force Dean to see the whole demon-blood addiction thing from Sam’s perspective. I loved how well the author wrote the whole family/bromance thing that the boys have while still highlighting their differences and being honest about how much they keep from each other. Because really. Major kudos to the author for writing a third-person, present-tense story that not only doesn’t feel stilted and awkward but actually has a great flow and feels really natural to read. It’s rare to see present tense written with any kind of skill, so I found this particularly impressive. I also liked how much the phrasings and mood of the story feel like both the show in general and Dean in particular (since it’s mostly from his perspective)–including the use of concepts like seeing one’s face in a mirror with a bitchface filter. Well written and very credibly Dean. I enjoyed Thicker Than Water a lot and look forward to reading more of the author’s work.

SPOILER ALERT: The events in this book take place after season 5, episode 8, so there are likely to be spoilers for any episodes prior to that. Plus, knowledge of events leading up to that point will be very helpful in knowing what’s going on in this book.

In 1859, an honorable ronin, known as “Heart of the Dragon” for his brave feats, is defeated by a far-sighted demon and turned into a vengeful spirit, one that may one day be of great use to the forces of darkness during the apocalypse. Years later, a young descendant of this ronin discovers how to bring this spirit back and bend its will to his own petty vengeances. The rash of mysterious (and obviously supernatural) deaths that follow become a plague to three generations of Campbells and Winchesters as the spirit returns once every 20 years.

My experience with media tie-in novels has been extremely patchy, with some being little better than poorly-researched fanfiction (minus the fandom) and others actually being great stories in their own right. I thing Heart of the Dragon is a surprisingly good story . . . if you love the TV series and know what’s going on. And I do have to say, watching the show up to season 5, episode 8, is basically essential to really get much out of this book. But within that context, I was actually really impressed and enjoyed this book quite a lot. I felt like DeCandido got a much better feel for who the characters are than he did in his previous novel Nevermore (which didn’t really impress me). The characters don’t just have a few phrases or stereotypical elements that typify them; they act and talk more like I expect Sam and Dean and the rest to act and talk on-screen. Plus, I thought the plot was interesting. I’ve heard people complaining that there’s just too much going on or that only a small portion of the story actually focused on Sam and Dean. True on both counts, but I enjoyed having a story that spanned from Mary and her parents to John and Bobby to Sam, Dean, and Castiel. Plus, the author did a great job of bringing in authentic period detail in relatively subtle ways to help keep the time jumps distinct. My biggest complaints are probably just me being snobby, honestly; for instance, the author uses “Cass” instead of “Cas” for Castiel’s nickname–he claim’s it’s what’s officially in the scripts, but I’ve never seen that actually used anywhere. Why would you even? But truly, I really enjoyed Heart of the Dragon for both its great characterizations and its interesting plot . . . but mostly for the characters.

On his one-hundredth birthday, Allan Karlsson finds himself in a nursing home with a big party planned in his honor. If only they had deigned to ask what he wanted! Allan would much rather have a bottle of vodka to enjoy–something that is, in fact, forbidden in the home. In that case, it’s time to stop sitting around. Allan climbs out the window of his room and embarks on quite the adventure, one including murder and elephants and, of course, vodka. Not that it will be the first adventure of his long life.

I first discovered The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared through a review by Paul@The Galaxial Word (which you should check out; it’s excellent). It seems that this is a book which inspires rather polarized opinions in either direction. Personally, I enjoyed it, but I think you have to come at it with the right expectations. Because this book is, essentially, an extended tall tale, a larger than life story that’s meant to be fun and funny but that can’t be taken too seriously. The humor is rather dark, I must warn; there’s some violence (actually, quite a bit) scattered throughout the story as well. I found that, while I didn’t exactly like the characters, they were interesting and they all contributed to the story. As for the plot, it’s a fascinating blend. Half of the time, you get a present-day romp through contemporary Sweden with this old man and the people he picks up along the way sending the police and the papers on a merry chase. The other half, scattered between the present-day chapters, is a historical progression through Karlsson’s long and storied life. It shows his intimate involvement–brought about by his coincidental presence in most circumstances–in numerous high-profile situations throughout the years. Obviously, such involvement is highly improbable and historically unlikely (a common complaint that I’ve heard). Duh. It’s a tall tale; it’s meant to be improbable and unlikely. I did enjoy the close-up walkthrough of those historical events though. I guess what I’m getting at is that, while it’s not for everyone, I personally found The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared to be enjoyable, and I’m planning to check out others of the author’s books (which all seem to be just as ridiculously titled!).

Clay Riddell has finally gotten his big break, signing a ridiculously good deal for his comic Dark Wanderer as well as a sequel. But his euphoria doesn’t get a chance to last for long as the world around him seems to go mad in a matter of minutes. People lose all appearance of reason, attacking each other, biting, running cars into buildings and people. In the following days, as Clay manages to make contact with a few normal people, it becomes apparent that this madness is linked to using a cell phone . . . and these days, who doesn’t use one? Distraught and desperate, Clay and his new companions, Tom and Alice, begin making their way across country in an attempt to reach Clay’s estranged wife and son–while doing their best to avoid run-ins with those who have come to be known as “phoners”. Especially as the phoners’ behavior becomes increasingly concerning and odd.

Stephen King is an amazing author, and while Cell is probably not my favorite of his books, it is certainly both an exciting and a thought-provoking read. It actually reminds me a great deal of Patterson’s Zoo, only better in every aspect. The idea of someone hacking the cell phone system is both chilling and just possible enough to get under the reader’s skin, however improbable the reprogramming of millions of people’s brains using such a signal is. I admired that King limited the story, kept it to a select group of individuals, kept the reader from knowing everything that’s going on, and never revealed the actual source of the problem. It made Clay and his companions’ experience seem much more present and real, more emotionally gripping. And this is certainly an emotionally loaded story, full of adrenaline and horror and sorrow and worry, but also of affection and laughter and joy, surprisingly enough. I enjoyed the characters and found that each brought something indispensable to the story. On a much more detailed note, I loved the allusions to Clay’s comic and his attention to signage and fonts (which is carried through by using different fonts in the text at key moments); I just found that this added a nice extra touch of character development. For those interested in a chilling cyberpunk zombie story that’s a bit open-ended, I think Cell is a great choice, one I would certainly recommend.

In 2009, Tara Fraser runs through the town of French Hill in Nova Scotia, passing the burned out remains of her old family home–the place she’d lived most of her life. Little could she imagine the deep ties she unwittingly retains with her ancestress Josey Fraser, a girl who grew up on the very same homestead back in the 1850’s. But when Tara finds an unusual quicksilver-containing family heirloom in her mother’s old jewelry box, the ties that connect these two girls begin to reveal themselves, uncovering a history of unexpected fortune and tragedy both.

My experience reading Mercury was really kind of mixed. I really love what the author tried to do here, melding the stories of these two girls. And I think overall the way the story revealed both of their stories side-by-side was very effective. But I found the extreme similarities between them rather forced at times; their own appearances were too similar, as were the relations between them and their best friends (who were also remarkably similar). I guess this is something that works better for the middle-grade audience this seems to be intended for, but it was counterproductive for me as a reader. On the other hand, I did like the characters and their stories. And I loved the setting, both in historic and present-day Nova Scotia–it’s pretty rare to find graphic novels set in Canada, so that’s always fun. The art was nice too, definitely a western (non-manga) style, but in a modern graphic-novel sense, not in an annoying comic-book sense. The other thing I found notable about this story was the touch of magical realism thrown in towards the end of the book. From reviews I’ve seen, this is pretty typical of Hope Larson’s writing, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it, so it really threw me. On the whole though, Mercury was a nice graphic novel, most recommended for a middle-grade or high-school audience, but with enough depth to be appreciable by adult readers as well.

Nick and Allie were complete strangers until they were thrown together–quite literally–by the car crash that killed them both. They were supposed to get to the light at the end of the tunnel, but their mid-tunnel collision sends them off course and into the in-between, to what its residents call “Everlost”. This ghostly world, which seems to them now more real than the living world, is full of strangeness, rumor, rules, and confusion. And despite their differences, Nick and Allie must together find a way to make it in a world where none of the known rules apply.

I first discovered Neal Shusterman’s writing with his fun book Antsy Does Time, but I didn’t even realize until recently that there were other incredible books by him right next to it on the shelf . . . mostly because the covers are in a completely different style! I was delighted to discover that Everlost is also written by him, and was equally delighted when I finished reading it. The world building in this unusual ghost story is exceptional. I think that’s probably what stood out most immediately–the author put a lot of thought into all the “physics” of this world, the rules that govern how it works, to craft a world that’s convincing and that allows for unique plot occurrences that could never happen in a normal book. And because of his world building, the plot really does give a different perspective on our fears, our personalities, our characters, what makes us human even. Especially in a world where everyone is, say, 16 or younger–but no one ever dies (being already dead and all). The feel and flow of the story remind me a lot of Peter Pan in many regards. There are a lot of great characters here as well, characters who grow with the story and whose growth powers the story along swimmingly. I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel (this is the first of a trilogy). Highly recommended for all readers, say, 11 and up.